1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mechanical guns, and more particularly to a magazine assembly for gas-powered guns. The present invention is especially useful for semi-automatic paint ball guns.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been well-known to use marking guns for wild animal management and in strategic or tactical games, such as paint ball games. The marking gun generally uses a liquid-containing frangible projectile commonly known as a paint ball. The paint ball is designed to be broken upon impact with an intended target. A player in a paint ball game generally fires a large quantity of paint balls in rapid succession. Because of the rapid discharge of the paint balls, several feed mechanisms have been devised. One such feeding mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,838 issued Apr. 7, 1953 to Seward. Seward discloses a magazine placed parallel to the barrel of the gun. This parallel displacement requires a user to arduously slant the gun in order to load a projectile.
An alternative feeding device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,282 issued Jun. 26, 1990 to Dobbins et al. Dobbins discloses the magazine attached perpendicularly to the barrel. The magazine contains a column of paint balls which are aligned in a radial direction relative to the barrel. Through gravitational force, a paint ball drops into the barrel when the bolt of the gun is retracted. The retraction of the bolt creates back-pressure whereby the external air is sucked into the gun through the barrel. The back-pressure moves the column of paint balls upwardly and away from the barrel. Consequently, it takes more time to load a paint ball into the barrel which is sometimes longer than time required to reset the bolt. This increases the risk of the bolt rupturing the paint ball thereby jamming the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,527 issued Jun. 3, 1969 to Cermak et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,608 issued Jul. 29, 1986 to Lacam et al. each disclose a magazine located below and attached perpendicularly to a barrel. A column of projectiles are biased toward and loaded into the barrel by a spring. This type of gun does not use gravitational force to load each paint ball, and is more complicated in construction.
Another patent which may be deemed of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,888 issued Oct. 14, 1975 to Horvath which discloses a pneumatic ball thrower.
Applicant's instant invention is a magazine assembly comprising a magazine and a collar which may be slidably attachable to the barrel of a paint ball gun or a magazine which may be fixed to the barrel of a paint ball gun. The magazine is orientated tangential to the barrel, not perpendicular or parallel. A ball drops into the barrel at an angle 90.degree. with respect to the magazine. This reduces the travel of the paint ball being loaded into the barrel and therefore, reduces the risk of the bolt rupturing the paint ball and jamming the gun. The magazine uses gravitational force to load each paint ball, and thus achieves a simple construction.